“Take care of him, Mori. I need him,” Lero sniffled and Mori came over to give him a quick hug.
“We got this. This is what we do. Invisible mates is something I actually know about,” Mori half-chuckled.
Leaving Lero behind was one of the most difficult things I ever had to do.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Lero
The Nightshade Bear Territory
I didn’t jump into action right away. Instead, I curled up on the sofa and did my best not to cry but eventually I cried myself to sleep. Not knowing was the worst thing in the world. When I woke up my mate and Mori still weren’t back. An hour had already passed. Wess was back in the kitchen making snacks. I almost went in to ask if he’d seen anything new about me and Vallis but my phone vibrated in my pocket. When I pulled it out it was Ivan’s face on the screen smiling up at me.
“Hello,” I answered on video call because there was no reason to hide my tears now.
“What the hell is going on, Lero?” his brows were high on his forehead.
It all came out in a rush of tears. I cried all the way through not even sure if Dad could understand what I said but he did. Working in labor and delivery had given him a lot of practice at understanding crying omegas.
“I’m on my way,” he said as soon as I fell quiet. “Your carrier and sire are at the clinic. He’s getting an ultrasound today.”
“Why didn’t you or Sire do it?” I sniffled.
“Eh, official ones are better done by someone you’re not married to. Less likely to miss something or freak out about nothing,” he said, keeping his voice level.
“You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?” I asked.
“We would and I thought we could say the same about you,” he said.
“I… You all have enough to worry about,” I said, a sob breaking through my words. My hormones and half-completed mating link was going to be the death of me. “I… I didn’t want to stress you guys out!”
Dad took a deep breath and ran a hand through his short hair.
“It’s alright. You don’t have to tell us everything, but we could’ve helped you, sweetheart.”
Thanks to the Other World gateways Dad was there in less than half an hour. It gave me just enough time to get home and put tea and coffee on. Dad walked in the back door into the kitchen while I was eating a leftover piece of pecan pie over the sink.
“At least it has some protein,” he chuckled before waiting for me to finish so that he could pull me into a tight hug. “I didn’t tell them yet. They were planning to catch a movie afterward and…”
“Why didn’t you go with them?” I asked.
“Because I’m technically on call. Don’t worry. I passed it on to someone else but, kiddo, you don’t have to worry about us. Sometimes we do just two people dates or someone has to work. Your carrier has been stir crazy because your sire won’t let himout of his sight. I figured getting out of the house for awhile is exactly what he needed. Well, now that he’s forgotten again about how that asshat broke your heart. Really wish you’d have told us about Vallis. If you had he’d stop dreaming of…. Well, never mind. That’s his business, but this is a good thing.”
“How can you say that?” I asked, sinking into a chair at the kitchen table.
“Because if he hadn’t found you, he’d have died.”
Dad was never one to mince words. I always said that if I had an injury that was going to do me in that I hoped he was around because he’d be upfront with me even if he was kind about it.
“He still might die,” I sighed.
“Nah,” he shook his head and sat his black leather medical bag on the table. Over the decades he’d added patches and buttons until it looked like a bizarre pattern of every color imaginable more than a black leather bag. “He’s family now. So he’s not allowed to die. Have you been getting enough to eat with all the stress?”
“I have to feed him every time he shows up and it’s the holiday season. I swear I’ve gained weight.”
“Good,” Dad said and glanced at the coffee part. “Caffeine in moderation is fine. I’d go down the whole list of what to avoid but you grew up hearing it and now probably isn’t the time.”
“Is it ever the time?” I laughed.
